Alicea goes undefeated to capture his first Tri-State Tour title at Clifton Billiards
Skip Maloney
Nov. 27, 2017
(l to r): Frank Sieczka & Mark Alicea
(l to r): Frank Sieczka & Mark Alicea
The last time Mark Alicea cashed in a Tri-State Tour stop was his debut on the tour, seven years ago. He was runner-up to George Osipovitch in that debut. Now, seven years (and five months) later, Alicea has chalked up what according to our records indicates, is his first tour victory. Mark is the brother of the late John Alicea, known as a protégé of George “Ginky” Sansouci and winner of numerous stops on both the Tri-State and Predator Tours, before passing away in November of 2012. Brother Mark went undefeated at a $1,000-added event, held on Saturday, November 26. The event drew 35 entrants to Clifton Billiards in Clifton, NJ.
 
Alicea advanced to the hot seat match after a 5-3 win over Mac Jankov in a winners’ side semifinal. He was joined by Pashk Gjini, who’d sent Frank Sieczka to the loss side 5-4. Alicea claimed the hot seat 5-2 over Gjini, and waited on the return of Sieczka.
 
On the loss side, Sieczka opened his three-match march back to the finals against Jowen Picardo, who’d defeated Daniel Feliciano 5-2 and Michelle Brotons 6-3 to reach him. Jankov drew Mike Mele, who was on a seven-match, loss-side run that would take him as far as the quarterfinals. He’d shut out Gil McGrath and survived a double hill fight against Matt Klein to face Jankov.
 
Mele advanced one more step with a 5-2 win over Jankov, and was joined in the quarterfinals by Sieczka, who’d eliminated Picardo 5-1. Sieczka brought an unceremonious end to Mele’s loss-side run with a shutout over him in the quarterfinals.
 
Sieczka and Gjini fought to double hill in the semifinals that followed, with Sieczka dropping the last ball and advancing for a shot against Alicea, waiting for him in the hot seat. Alicea completed his undefeated, first-tour-win run with a 5-2 victory over Sieczka in the finals.
 
Tri-State representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Clifton Billiards for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Sterling-Gaming, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, Human Kinetics, Pool & Billiards, Professor Q Ball, Bender Cues, and DIGICUE OB. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for Sunday, December 10, will be a $1,000-added event, hosted by Cue Bar in Bayside (Queens), NY.